Blog

Month: August 2013

Dr Singh who runs his botox clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in his latest blog talks about a phone call he had recently from a jealous husband.

The majority of my patients are females and a lot of them don’t tell their husbands or partners about seeing me for botox. There are a number of reasons that they may not wish to inform their other half, and some of theses reasons they tell me this are:

its my money and I can spend it on whatever I like

my partner would not understand

I am having botox for myself and it makes me feel and look good, so I don’t do it for anyone else

We take patient confidentiality very seriously and respect all our patients wishes. We would never leave messages on mobiles or home/work telephone numbers regarding any botox appointments, etc.

When patients ring for their botox appointments, they have many alias names they use to hide the fact that I am their ‘go to guy’ for botox. I have been told some of the names I come under, such as

Dr Singh

Harry

Dr Harry

Salon

Facial

Now last Thursday I took a call from a regular patient of mine for the last 4 years. She wanted to book her next botox appointment. After speaking to many botox patients over many years, I can judge if they are talking to me when people around them are present and these people don’t know what they are ringing me for and the caller does not want to reveal the nature of their call to me. So when this patient rings the conversation goes something like this:

Me: Good afternoon, thank you for calling aesthetics, how can I help you?

Patient: I need to see you quick, when can I come around

Me: No problems, what is your name?

Patient: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Me: Oh, Hi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, how are you?

Patient: Cant talk, what do you have

Me: Next Tuesday at 4pm

Patient: Will need to check, will call back in 10 minutes, don’t ring me, I will call you

Me: Ok, bye

10 minutes later the phone rings with the same number. I am expecting the patient to confirm the appointment. Instead its a man’s voice and he is rather annoyed. He says, “I don’t know who you are but what are you doing with my wife Harry, why is she calling you, what to you do, where do you live”

Now what can I say, I cant tell him, that she is my patient (breaking confidentially rules). I just say first thing that comes into my mind and say, ‘Sorry you have the wrong number’ and I put the phone down.

Now do I tell the patient that her husband suspects she is having an affair and he thinks its me!

I decide to leave alone, see no evil, hear no evil.

Later that same day, I get a text from the patient. Her husband confronted her about me and she had to come clean about why she called me and what I do. She said what raised her husbands concerns was when he looked at her call history, he saw the contact as ‘Harry Beautiful’. She joked and said she chose that name as after her botox treatment she feels beautiful. Obviously her husband had another meaning to the name!

Dr Singh who runs his botox clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in his latest blog shares a recent article he read by The Good Surgeons Guide.

Non-surgical cosmetic treatments are on a rise so far this year, according to an ongoing survey by The Good Surgeon Guide and similar mid-year reports conducted by other organisations both in the UK and US.

Botox® and other facial dermal fillers top the list of most requested non-surgical procedure, and looking at the age demographic of patients the data suggests an ageing Baby Boomer population (those in their 50-60s) are pushing the trends of the cosmetic rejuvenation market.

In addition to Botox® and facial fillers, many cosmetic medical professionals also report many patients are asking for non-surgical ways for body slimming and reducing the signs of ageing in other parts of the body where traditional, major invasive surgery was the only choice. As a result, the cosmetic surgery and aesthetic industry is now seeing an emergence of many non-invasive technologies to do just that. There are now procedures, like cool sculpting and non-surgical facelifts now being offered.

Here is the top 10 most requested cosmetic procedures so far in 2013, and some of the comments made by various cosmetic medical professionals:

Dr Singh who runs his botox clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in his latest blog talks about selecting a practitioner to carry out the botox procedure.

I am not overly concerned as to which healthcare professional people choose, it is more about their experience that is the critical factor.

Being a dentist, I am biased (rightly so in my eyes) that dentists are the best at carrying out botox procedures. My reasoning is twofold. Firstly we carry out injections on a daily basis on patients that can be extremely nervous about their visit to the dentist. We have many years experience of giving injections as comfortable as possible for the patient. Secondary, we spend a lot more time compared to other undergraduates, in learning about the anatomy of the head and neck. We understand the muscles, nerve supply, blood vessels and important structures in the face and we can incorporate this detailed anatomical knowledge when giving injections in the face.

As pointed out earlier, you cannot beat experience. Have a look at their own before and after pictures and patient testimonials. Ask how long they have been doing it and if they solely concentrate on facial aesthetics (like myself) or combine it with dentistry.

Make sure they have been adequately trained and have the correct insurance in place. Don’t be afraid to ask to see their certificated and insurance, these should be readily available for you to inspect.

Go with your gut feeling. If you are unsure or feel you have been rushed, then take your time. Go home and think about it or try another consultation with someone else. You want to make sure you feel comfortable with the practitioner carrying out the botox.

Dr Singh who runs his botox clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in his latest blog talks about a recent conversation he had with a member of the public.

I attended a networking lunch last week in London and as usual early on in conversations with new people, the topic of occupation jumps up. I usually reply with the title of facial aesthetician and have to follow this up, with botox and dermal fillers.

I get 2 reactions. One is in favour of botox. They either have had the treatment previously or are considering the process. These people are genuinely interested and are normally well informed.

The other reaction I get, is like I have announced I am a mass murderer. This group of people can become quite hostile and rude. I have nothing in people voicing their opinions or not agreeing to my point of view. Bit what frustrates me, is their reasoning comes from ill informed, friends, bad and inaccurate press in the media or what they read in a glossary magazine.

Now, I am not saying there are some bad cases of botox and not all is perfect. But when these people try to act out and demonstrate a wind swept look, it just makes me laugh.

The other miss informed point they will undoubtedly make, is that botox is poisonous. I try to explain that all medicines in low doses are therapeutic and in extreme doses can kill you. But they are beyond reasoning. They have made their mind up. What gets me is if they are so anti botox, then why do they try to argue their point for the next 30 minutes or so.

They also comment, that they would never be a patient of mine and quite frankly I would not accept them as patients .

Rant over! If you are the first half of people that are genuinely interested in the miracle effects of botox on your lines and subsequently your confidence. I have all the time in the world to talk to you and welcome you with open arms to my botox clinic.